


Secret Admirer

by chaotically_cas



Category: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: M/M, Tw mention of Johnny’s death, Tw mention of physical violence (none happens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29103876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaotically_cas/pseuds/chaotically_cas
Summary: “Curly, that sounds absolutely ridiculous” Ponyboy chucked to his friend.“Shut up! You’re the poet not me” Curly spat with humor, harshly rubbing his eraser against the paper in front of him, nearly ripping it.“A toddler could come up with better than that” Pony teased.He had been helping his best friend, Curly Shepard, write letters. Love letters to be exact.
Relationships: Steve Randle/Curly Shepard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Secret Admirer

**Author's Note:**

> Crappy summary but oh well muah

“Curly, that sounds absolutely ridiculous” Ponyboy chucked to his friend. 

“Shut up! You’re the poet not me” Curly spat with humor, harshly rubbing his eraser against the paper in front of him, nearly ripping it. 

“A toddler could come up with better than that” Pony teased. 

He had been helping his best friend, Curly Shepard, write letters. Love letters to be exact.

“Well then why don’t you try?!” Curly snapped “you know what it’s like to love him.”

“Yeah. When I was fourteen” Pony scoffed “I’m not some dumb kid anymore. No offense.”

“Offense taken” Curly gasket dramatically “just help me will ya?”

“Ok fine. What do you have so far?” Pony sighed, finally agreeing to help his friend. 

“Umm. Dear Steve….” Curly trailed off. 

“Dear Steve? That’s it?”

“Well you won’t help me so yeah” Curly scolded, rubbing the wooden pencils rubber eraser against his temple in annoyance. 

“Just say how you feel” Pony spoke honestly.  
Curly sat on Ponyboy’s words for a second, thinking to himself. 

The two boys were in Curly’s room at his house, despite the fact he was nearly nineteen, and Pony had been trying to help Curly write a letter to his crush for what felt like an hour now. They were really close but the main reason Curly had asked for Pony’s help was because Pony had a crush on the same boy, Steve Randle. Sure he was a pompous cocky asshole but somehow Curly found himself falling head over heels at every visit to the Curtis house. 

And after a year or so he found himself regularly stopping by the DX just to see him. Or visiting Pony when he knew Steve would be home. At first, he didn’t tell Pony about how he felt because he knew Pony had been so hopelessly in love with Steve since he was a kid. So boy was he relieved when Pony finally got himself a different boyfriend. 

This brings them to two months later. Pony had finally convinced Curly to write Steve an anonymous love to Steve, the pansy sap he was. 

“How bout telling him he makes me feel like I’m drunk on love?” Curly suggested. 

“Oh god, you sound like Soda” Pony joked “it sounds good. Tell him why.”

“Why?”

“Yeah. Tell him what he does to make you feel that way. Throw in a few jokes and you’re golden” Pony told him, throwing Curly a smirk. 

Curly just nodded and stared down at the paper, full off barely notíciale eraser marks, and finally put all his thoughts onto the paper. 

He didn’t take him more than five minutes to have the paper completely filled with his crappy handwriting. 

“How’s this?” Curly asked, handing the paper to Pony demandingly. 

Pony looked down at the paper and squinted as he started to read it. 

“Jeez Curls, I had no idea you were such a crazed lover” Pony remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh shut up, is it any good?” Curly pleaded, rolling his eyes. 

“It’s really good” Pony smiled honestly “I’ll pretend to find it in the mailbox and give it to him.”

“Thanks Pone. You sure are a pal” Curly clapped with a grin “and you promise to tell me how it goes?”

“Of course. See ya tomorrow” Pony said as he walked out the door to head back to his house, leaving Curly in his thoughts. 

Pony shoved the letter in his back pocket as he walked the six blocks back to his house, kicking small pebbles as he walked along. It was a warm night so the walk was pretty fast. 

Pony took a deep breath and trotted up the steps, opening the door for his preformscs. 

“Hey all” he greeted, seeing most the gang's heads snap to him “we got mail.” He pulled out the letter from his back pocket. 

“Give it here” Darry greeted, grabbing the letter out of Pony’s hands. He didn’t have a very good day, Pony assumed. 

“Looks like it’s for Steve” Darry snorted, passing the letter off to Steve. 

Steve pushed his eyebrows together in confusion as he opened the letter and began to read it. 

“Damn, Pony, did you write this?” Steve sneered, a wicked smile spreading across his face. 

“That ain’t his handwriting” Soda answered for Pony, peering over Steve’s shoulder. 

“Well, are you gonna share?” Two Bit chuckled from the couch. 

Steve nodded with the same evil smile before clearing his throat. 

“Dear Steve. You make me feel drunk in love. The kind of love that makes your cheeks hurt from smiling and your ribs hurt from laughing. Everytime I see you round the DX working on whatever car or cracking some joke I fall more in love with you every day. I ain’t real good at letters or words so I guess I’ll just say that I wish I was with you. Like I wish I could kiss you. I wish I could kiss you and hold you close every time I see that damned smile. Love, a secret admirer” Steve read. He didn’t blush much but damn if there wasn’t a noticeable pink tint creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks. He looked both bewildered and shocked. 

“Jeez” was all that Two could say. 

“Damn, looks like some broads really got it bad” Soda chuckled, giving Steve a clap on the back. Boy if only he knew. 

“Pony you seriously don’t know who this?” Steve asked, looking up from the letter for the first time. 

“No, why?” Pony shrugged, lying. 

“Nothing. Just…” Steve trailed off “I ain’t ever got nothing like this before.”

~ ~ ~

“Wait he seriously liked it?” Curly questioned with a huge smile on his face. He couldn’t believe his ears. 

“I think so, man. He was blushing and everything” Ponyboy recalled. 

The two of them were walking home from school, of course Curly didn’t go, he just met up with Pony there. Curly didn’t know who Pony bothered to go anyway, he was a senior, the year of blowing everything off in Curly’s head. 

“Wanna walk past the DX? See for yourself” Pony proposed, shoving his friend lightly. 

“Oh god you know I’m always up for a trip around there” Curly smirked, rubbing his hands together evilly. 

“You’re disgusting” Pony scoffed with a laugh. 

“Hey now, don’t act like you weren’t saying the  
same stuff three years ago” Curly teased. 

“Four years” Pony spat. 

“Four years. Whatever” Curly laughed. 

The two of them continued their playful banter as they made their way to the DX where they were sure Soda and Steve would be, along with any other girls.  
And sure enough when they got there, they noticed a few cars parked around as they walked towards the front door.

“Heya Pony! Hey Curly” Soda greeted them, a huge smile spreading across his face as he ripped his attention from the girls. 

“Hey Soda. Hey Steve” Pony replied. Steve barely looked up with a nod from where he was leaning against the counter “ya find your mystery lover yet?”

“The hell do you mean?” Steve asked, looking over at Curly and Pony. 

“The letter?”

“What letter?” Curly spoke up, playing dumb. 

“Steve got a love letter in the mail last night!! Real sappy one too!” Soda cheered excitedly. 

“Nice” Curly congratulated, trying to hold back his smile. 

“Would be if I knew who” Steve shrugged. 

Curly just nodded as Pony got a Pepsi for the two of them for their walk back to Ponyboy’s. It was only about a block or two away but on the hot day they figured they deserved it. 

They said their goodbyes and headed for home, Curly was practically glowing from the short visit. 

“You have to tell him it’s you, man” Pony advised, taking a drink from his Pepsi. 

“I can’t! You know that. He’d probably hit me” Curly chuckled. 

“Then why don’t you ask him?”

“Ask him what?”

“Ask him what he would do if he found out who wrote them. But subtly” Pony suggested. 

“Gee, that’s not obvious at all. We come by asking how’s the search doing, then he gets another letter” Curly teased, pointing out the flaw in Pony plan “for a smart kid. You sure are dumb.”

“Well then just write him another letter, like you don’t know if he got the first one” Pony said, opening the front door to his house. 

“Ya think that will do anything?” Curly sighed, already making his way to Pony’s room and slumping down in his chair. 

“Yeah, you should see his face this time around!” Pony exclaimed, almost proud of himself for the idea. 

“Huh?”

“I mean, write the letter now. And when Steve gets home we say we found it with the rest of the mail. That way he reads it while you’re here” Pony smiled. 

“Gee, I take that back Pone, you’re a genius.”

Pony gave Curly a piece of paper and a pencil and silence filled the room as they sat together. Curly thinking really hard about what to say. And before too long the room was filled with sounds of the pencil scratching against the paper. 

“Done” Curly groaned, rolling his shoulders and neck around as if he had been hunched over the paper for an hour, not five minutes. 

“You’re so dramatic” Pony laughed, snatching the letter out of Curly’s hands. 

“Don’t judge me, ok?” Curly warned, pointing a polished nail at his friend.

“I wouldn’t dare” Pony teased sarcastically, looking down at the letter. 

As Pony read Curly saw his face change from a variety of emotions. Shock, surprise, a smirk even. Boy was he not good at hiding it.

“Damn Curls, this is real good” Pony grinned honestly, folding the letter back up “are you sure about that though?”

“Yeah. I’ve loved him for long enough, figure it was bout time he knew” Curly chuckled nervously, playing with the pencil in his hands “you think he’ll show?”

“I know he will. Whether it’s on his own or Soda makes him” Pony laughed. 

The two of them spent the next few hours as the sun set just chatting and complaining about whatever they had on their minds. Pony’s boyfriend. Tim. School. Their futures. They never got too deep. They weren’t those type of friends. Curly wasn’t Johnny. But they found extreme comfort in each other nonetheless, especially after Johnny’s death. 

They were taken out of their conversation by the sound of familiar laughter barging through the front door, Steve and Soda. 

Without another word Pony and Curly got up and met the older friends in the other room. 

“Heya Stevie” Pony greeted with a new kind of smile, a smile only Curly’s antics brought out in him. 

“What?” Steve snapped. God he sure didn’t like Pony much, thought Curly. 

“Ya got another letter” Pony teased, wiggling Curly’s letter between his forefingers. 

“Lemme see” Steve growled, taking the letter from Pony and plopping down on the couch with it. 

“Read it outloud, will ya?” Soda begged, it was almost as if he was more excited than Steve. Soda was always excited though. 

“Dear Steve. I hope you got my other letter. I’m writing this one in case you didn’t. Everyday my love for you grows stronger and stronger. And my heart beats louder. But that sounds awfully cheesy, don’t it? I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wish you knew me like how I wanted to know you. I wanna kiss you like I’ve longed too. And some other stuff but that can wait. Will ya meet me tomorrow night? The park bench on the corner of Olive and MacArthur. 7? I hope to see us there. Love, a secret admirer” Steve read. The same light blush from the night before creeping onto his face.

“Oh you gotta go Steve you gotta” Soda pleaded, practically jumping up and down. 

“I second that” Pony smiled, giving Curly an unnoticed elbow in the ribs again. 

“Ya think so?” Steve asked, scratching the back of his neck, trying to fight off the blush that the rest of them had already clearly noticed. 

“You gotta!!!” Soda almost screamed. 

“Alright, whatever, I will” Steve laughed “watcha wanna watch?”

Curly drowned out the conversation between Soda & Steve as he turned to Pony. 

“I’m gonna go back to my place. Thank you” Curly smirked, offering his hand out fit a fist bump, which Pony happy obliged to.

“I’ll see ya around six forty five” Pony winked. 

Curly flashed him a toothy grin before walking out the door. He couldn’t help himself but jump in excitement and let out a small cheer, he would never admit to it though. He had some much energy flowing through him, he sprinted all the way home. 

~ ~ ~

“God what took you so long?” Curly scolded, opening his front door to let his best friend in. 

“Jeez, I’m two minutes late you crazy” Pony chuckled with a judgmental look in his eyes “how you doing?”

“Fantastic” Curly scoffed, walking over to look at himself in the mirror “does my hair look ok?”

“It looks the same as it always does” Pony shrugged. He leaned up against the door frame, watching Curly play with his short hair. 

“Gee thanks” Curly managed to whisper, too distracted by his appearance in the mirror. 

“You look fine Curls” Pony laughed. He found it hilarious how funny his friend was, so head over heels for Steve Randle of all people. But he couldn’t blame him. 

“The jacket looks ok too?” Curly asked, spinning around to face Pony. He looked disheveled. He never looked disheveled. 

“Just fine Curly” Pony said, shaking his head. 

“Good. Good” he repeated to himself, as if he was reassuring himself. And honestly, he was. 

“Now get out of here or you’re gonna be late” Pony grinned, pulling his friend in for a hug. 

Curly loosely returned the hug and nodded. “Thanks Pony.”

“No problem, now go!”

Curly laughed and headed towards the front door, giving Ponyboy a solute, which Pony returned, before walking out and closing it behind him. 

Curly shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather packet, humming softly to himself as he thought. What if Steve didn’t show? What if he did show, and just didn’t care? What if he did hit him? 

The walk wasn’t more than a few blocks but it felt like miles as Curly tried to fight the thoughts that kept into his head.

But all the thoughts seemed to disappear as he saw from behind the familiar outline sitting on the exact bench from his letter. It was Steve. 

He picked up his pace as he approached, taking a deep breath and hopping the bench, sitting right to him.

“Jesus!” Steve jumped “Curly Shepard? What are you doing here? I’m waiting for someone.”

“I know” Curly shrugged with a smirk, leaning back on the bench, trying to meet his eyes “you're waiting for me.”

“What?” Steve asked, looking at Curly genuinely confused. Curly guessed the thought had never even crossed Steve’s mind. 

“I wrote the letters” Curly smirked, a pit beginning to form in his stomach. 

“What let- oh my god” Steve breathed out. The realization hitting him like a brick wall. 

“Do me a favor, and if you’re gonna hit me, not in the face?” Curly chucked, only half joking at the possibility. 

“You wrote those things? For real?”

“For real.” 

“God” Steve said, almost emotionless and looking at the ground, making it impossible to read him. 

“Steve?” Curly spoke up after a minute “I’d rather have ya hit me than say nothing.”

“I don’t know what to say” Steve mumbled, finally managing to pick his head up to meet Curly’s pleading eyes. 

“How bout you kiss me instead?” Curly suggested, his eyes briefly darting between Steve’s kind hard eyes and soft dry lips. 

“That works for me” Steve smiled after a second of hesitation, a hand reaching up to cup Curly’s jaw and pulling him into the kiss. 

It was new, it all was, but it was needed and soft. Steve’s lips felt as natural as the thought of them always had. It was practically perfect. 

“Damn” Steve breathed out, ending the kiss sooner than the both of them would have liked. 

“So?” Curly beamed, inches away from Steve’s still kiss plump lips. 

“So, kiss me and my damned smile again. And maybe then we can get to that ‘other stuff’, huh?” Steve teased, recalling the words from Curly’s letters. 

“Shut up” Curly retorted, pressing another lingering long kiss onto Steve’s lips. Yep, it was perfect.


End file.
